Vid's Story
by emmyrad
Summary: First of all, let me introduce myself.  My name is Violet Harding, but you probably know me as Vid, or "that redheaded girl from Masters' Blasters."  You've heard Danny's side of the story. Now here's ours.    /Rated for language/
1. Chapter 1

_Dear reader,_

_ First of all, let me introduce myself._

_My name is Violet, but you probably know me as Vid, or "that redheaded girl from Masters' Blasters."_

_Masters' Blasters. Remember us? We were here in Amity Park for two weeks, fighting ghosts, and then after Vlad Masters revealed he was also Vlad Plasmius… we just disappeared._

_There's been quite a bit of speculation out there about where we went. The most popular theory regarding our disappearance is that we were so dismayed and shamed that our employer was an evil half-ghost that we went into hiding._

_But we knew that we were working for the bad guy all along… and we weren't there by choice._

_You've heard Danny's side of the story._

_Now here's ours._

_Sincerely,_

_Violet "Vid" Harding_


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up in a glowing green cage, my entire body aching. Moaning, I sat up, a trembling hand coming up to brush tangled red hair out of my eyes.

_How did I get here?_

The night before came back to me quickly, and as the onslaught of unpleasant memories assaulted me, all I wanted was to fall unconscious again, back into that blissfully tranquil sleep I had just awoken from.

Tears gathered in my eyes, a sob catching in my throat. But I stifled the weakness that threatened to overcome me. Crying wouldn't get me out of this cage, out of this mansion, out of the grasp of this evil ghost who'd killed my entire family.

Well, not my entire family. I glanced over to my right, to a cage beside me. A large boy with shoulder length blonde hair sat inside. He stared forward, his normally vivid blue eyes dim, glazed over with an odd emptiness.

_My older brother_, I thought. _Thank goodness the ghost at least spared _him_._

"Theo," I called out to my brother. The boy lifted his head, turning to look at me. He put on a weary smile when he saw me.

"Violet," Theo said, sounding relieved. "You're awake."

"Yes," I said.

Suddenly, I remembered our other companion. I turned to the cage to my left, my heart stuttering as my gaze fell on the disheveled boy that was inside. His head was tucked into his chest. He held his gray baseball cap in his hands, exposing his cropped black hair.

"You all right, Derek?" I asked him.

Derek glanced over at me, his green eyes filled with bitterness and pain.

"Just peachy, Violet," Derek spat. "Our families are dead, we've been kidnapped by some psycho ghost and taken to who-the-hell-knows-where… yeah, I'm feeling pretty damn good!"

I could tell Derek was hurting. I hated to see him like this…

"Sorry, Derek," I said. "I know it was a stupid question."

"Yeah… it was," Derek said, but the cruelty was gone from his voice. His green eyes met my purple ones, and for the first time since I'd woken up, I felt… safe, I guess.

Which was ridiculous, considering the situation we were in.

I glanced around at our surroundings. We appeared to be in a large lab of some sort. Our cages were strange— they weren't made of metal, but rather of some glowing green energy. They were small, too— poor Theo could barely fit inside his.

"How're we going to get out of here?" I wondered aloud. My question was met by silence… not that I'd expected much else of my two companions. My brother Theo was what you'd call the strong silent type, and Derek was simply too worked up to do any serious thinking.

I guess I'm sort of the level-headed one in our group. Theo and Derek are polar opposites— Theo never gets too worried about anything, while Derek is always angry or upset about something. I'm the peacekeeper, the logic that keeps them both grounded.

_I guess it's up to me to formulate the escape plan, then_, I thought wryly, already going through the options in my head.

But I didn't get far, because just then, a supernatural cold came over the air. I glanced over at Derek just in time to see him tense. We'd lived in Amity Park our whole lives— we could tell when a ghost was coming. I shivered, my teeth clattering noisily as I glanced around the room, trying to spot whatever ghost had caused the sudden change in temperature.

What I didn't expect was to hear its voice coming from right behind me.

"Violet, is it?" the ghost asked.

I tensed, biting into my cheek as I fought the urge to scream. This ghost had murdered my family, and was probably about to murder me. But I couldn't let him know I was scared.

I was Violet Harding. I did not show weakness.

"Why did you kill them? What do you want with us?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

The ghost flew out in front of the cages so we could see him.

The Wisconsin Ghost hovered before us. His skin was a sickly blue, his black hair crafted into shining horns. His appearance vaguely reminded me of that of a vampire.

"There will be time for your questions later," the Wisconsin Ghost snapped. "For now, answer mine: are you or are you not Violet Harding?"

I was a bit taken aback by the urgency in the ghost's voice.

"Y-yes, I'm Violet," I said shakily.

"Not anymore," the ghost told me. "From now on, your name is Vid."

I blinked.

"Vid?" I asked. "Like, as in video?"

"Yes. Vid. Your brother is now Thrash, and your friend here is Download."

Vid? Thrash? Download? What was this, some stupid video game?

"Okay, weird names aside… why the sudden rechristening?" I asked.

"The world thinks you're dead," the ghost said. "I've had to change your identities. I'm afraid that if anybody knew you all were still alive… well, it would raise some rather unnecessary questions."

Suddenly, I heard something beside me. I glanced over to see Derek— or, rather, Download— shaking in anger from his head to his toes.

"I don't care what you want to call me!" he cried. "I'll always be Derek, and you'll always be the heartless ghost who slaughtered my family!"

The ghost chuckled lightly, swooping down to Derek's cage.

"Just be glad I spared your Violet for you," the ghost said. "And know that, though I don't _want_ to kill her, I won't hesitate to do so if you do not cooperate."  
>"You… you wouldn't," Derek said, his voice suddenly raspy and weak.<p>

"I'm afraid I would," the ghost said, chuckling.

The ghost disappeared, and the temperature of the room normalized again. The ghost was gone.

Derek gulped, glancing over at me. His green eyes were filled with concern.

I hated this. I hated seeing Derek so… hurt. So vulnerable. I hated it. Hated it!

"Don't worry about me, Derek," I said, trying to reassure the boy.

Derek shook his head.

"No. I won't let him touch you," Derek said softly. "I'll cooperate. I'll do what that ghost says. If he can guarantee your safety, I'll do anything."

"No, Derek, don't be stupid," I said.

"My name's Download," he responded, his tone harsh.

I turned away from Derek. I couldn't stand this. I turned to where Theo sat— he was back to staring at the wall in front of us, his expression blank.

I sighed. Our family was gone. We were prisoners to an evil ghost.

An hour or two passed before I finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.

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**A/N:**

_I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow._

_Please review._


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke the next morning. At least, I assumed it was morning. I couldn't tell. It was as dark as ever in the lab.

I glanced over at Derek, who was still asleep. It had been ages since I thought of that day we'd met, three years previous. Why did it so suddenly reappear in my dreams?

But this wasn't Derek beside me. It was Download. And I wasn't Violet. I was Vid.

"Good Morning," a quiet voice said beside me. I turned to see Theo— no, Thrash— wide awake and staring at me with his speculative blue eyes.

"Morning," I greeted. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't," Theo said simply. "I couldn't."

"Oh," I responded. The lab fell into silence once more, a silence I felt necessary to break. "So, what do you think of our new names?"

Theo shrugged.

"I don't like it, but I'll play along," Theo said. "It doesn't seem we have much of an option, not if we want to get out of here alive."

That was my brother for you… calm as can be, even in a life or death situation like this one. It was really annoying sometimes.

"I can't believe _he _agreed to this," I said, meaning Derek. "Normally he's… so stubborn…"

Theo was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"He really cares about you, Violet," Theo said to me.

Despite myself, I blushed as I glanced over at Derek, who was still sleeping soundly.

"Of course he cares about me," I said, hoping to end this conversation. "He's my best friend."

"You know what I mean," Theo said, smirking.

And I did know what he meant, even if I wasn't about to agree with him. Theo had some crazy idea that Derek and I were meant to be together or something. Yeah, right. Derek was my best friend. Nothing more, nothing less. I wouldn't endanger what we had together for the world.

_Besides, Derek doesn't like me like that_, I thought to myself._ I know my friend. I can tell when he has a crush on a girl. I would totally know by now if he had any non-platonic feelings toward me._

"You're blushing," Theo noted.

I glared at him.

"Hey, just saying," Theo said, throwing his hands up innocently.

Suddenly, there was a stirring to our left. Theo and I turned to see Derek awakening, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Good morning," I called over to him.

"Morning," he grumbled, his voice still gruff with sleep.

Suddenly, a familiar chill came over the room, and I shivered, looking around for the ghost I knew had entered the room.

"Good morning, children," a voice said, and then the Wisconsin Ghost was in front of us, smirking at us with that pompous grin of his. "Sleep well?"

"Not really, ghost," I said. "These cages aren't exactly comfortable the most comfortable confines."

"You may call me Plasmius," the ghost— Plasmius— said. "And I'm sorry you had to stay in here last night. Your rooms were still being constructed."

"Our… rooms?" Derek asked, confused.

"Yes, boy, _rooms_," Plasmius said. "You didn't think I'd leave you all in these cages forever, did you?"

We all shook our heads, even though that's exactly what we thought he'd do.

"Come along, then, we don't have all day," Plasmius said.

The green glowing energy that had confined us for the past two days dissipated, leaving us free. I stood up quickly, only to nearly collapse again, I was so weak. Then Derek was by my side, his arm wrapped around me, supporting most of my weight.

"Thanks," I muttered, a little embarrassed at my weakness.

"Follow me," Plasmius said, turning away from us to walk out of the room. I tried to wobble forward, but couldn't. My legs were like jelly. And I was so weak… none of us had eaten anything since we'd gotten here.

"Here, let me," Theo said, and soon my older brother had scooped me up in his arms, and I was being carried.

"Hey, I can walk!" I cried from Theo's arms, but I couldn't even muster up enough energy to thrash my legs in protest. Instead, I settled for pouting, crossing my arms across my chest and sticking out my lower lip.

Theo just snickered.

We seemed to walk forever down dimly lit, ornate hallways, turning each corner only to find another long corridor ahead of us. I think I dozed off once or twice on the way there.

Finally, we arrived at a large pair of double doors.

"These are your rooms," Plasmius explained, motioning to the door. "Food and beverages will be brought up to you. There will be no need for any of you to leave unless I tell you to."

Cautiously, Theo lowered me to the ground, and Plasmius took out an ornate key and opened the door to our rooms.

We walked into a large living room type area. A huge plasma screen TV was embedded into the wall, and an enormous couch sat in the center of the room. The place was lavishly decorated, expensive-looking art decorating the walls, and I was almost afraid to walk on the rugs, they looked so fancy.

Plasmius had spared no expenses on our suite.

Said ghost was currently smirking, no doubt enjoying our shocked expressions.

"If you like this, wait until you see your rooms," Plasmius said.

And then we were alone again, Plasmius having once more disappeared on us. I heard the doors shut and lock behind us.

"Man, this is…" Derek started, but paused, shaking his head. Not having a word to describe the situation we were in.

"I know," I said. "First, he kills our family, traps us in cages, and doesn't feed us for two days, and now he gives us this huge suite that apparently he built just for us. I can't make sense of this ghost."

"Speaking of eating, when did he say he was going to get us food?" Theo asked.

"Well, we do have a little kitchen," I said, wandering over to the refrigerator on the other side of the room and opening it. It was completely stocked.

"Bon appétit," I said, gesturing to the fridge, grinning.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

Six frozen pizzas later, we were all completely stuffed and feeling a little sick.

"Man," Derek groaned. "Maybe we shouldn't have eaten so much."

I rolled my eyes, even though I agreed with him. That much pizza on an empty stomach definitely wasn't one of our better plans.

"Maybe we should check out our rooms," Theo said, getting up.

"Oh, right," I said, standing. "He did say something about our rooms, didn't he?"

The doors that led to our rooms were clearly labeled. A door on the same wall as the plasma screen TV declared that it belonged to _Thrash_. Theo turned the doorknob, entering his room. Derek and I followed closely behind.

"Oh, my god," Theo muttered, looking around his room with wide eyes.

This room was definitely Theo's. The walls were lined with dozens of bookshelves, and probably thousands of books.

I know what you're thinking. And, yes, Theo certainly didn't _look _like a bookworm. With his tall stature, huge muscles, and blonde hair, he probably seemed like a total jock to outsiders.

Theo's grades— straight A's— proved otherwise.

Theo rushed to the closest bookshelf, taking off the first book he saw and plopping down to read.

No doubt Theo would be in that room for a while. Derek and I left him there with his books to go see our own rooms.

A door on the opposite side of the suite was labeled _Download_. Derek and I wandered into the room, wondering what surprises it held.

Derek gasped as he saw his room. It was perfect for him. In the center of the room, a huge skateboard ramp stood. I could see dozens of different skateboards hung up on the back wall, along with a few bikes. Derek immediately rushed forward to examine his loot.

"Man, this is _awesome!_" Derek cried. He loved skateboarding.

Rolling my eyes, I left him there and went to find my own room.

I found my door on the far back wall of the house. _Vid_, it read. I turned the doorknob and strode inside, already having a faint idea of what I was to find.

I wasn't disappointed.

Stylistically, the room was similar to how mine had been at home; the walls were painted a light gold color, and my bed was in the far right hand corner of the room.

But what distinguished this room from the one I had at home were the speakers that hung from the ceiling and lined the walls.

My mouth popped open in awe as I examined the sound system.

_So, where's the music?_

A cabinet in the corner of the room caught my attention, and I wandered over to it, pulling it open.

CDs, thousands of them.

I reached out, grinning wildly, pulling out as many of the CDs as I could, plopping them all down onto my bed, sitting down to sift through them.

My favorite rock groups. Every single CD was one I had at home or one that was on my wish list. I smiled as one CD in particular caught my eye— the new Dumpty Humpty CD! It wasn't supposed to come out for another five months!

Eagerly, I took out the CD, popping it into the player, smiling as the sound enveloped the room, echoing and bouncing off the walls, the bass shaking the furniture.

These speakers must have cost a fortune. They sounded like they did, anyway.

It was amazing.

Smiling, I fell back onto my bed, the rock music calming my ragged nerves.

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**A/N: **

_Huge thanks to everybody who has reviewed. It makes me so happy to hear from you. It's always nice to know there's actually somebody out there reading this._

_I'll probably post one chapter every day. But who knows? If I get enough reviews, I might just upload the next chapter sooner._

_Thanks for reading._

_-Emmyrad_


	4. Chapter 4

It was an hour later when Theo knocked on my door, eventually letting himself in when I didn't hear him over my music.

I glanced upward, using my remote to pause the music.

"What's up?" I asked, noting my brother's solemn expression.

"You might want to see this," he said.

I followed my brother into the living room, where another door was open, one of the unlabeled ones that we hadn't gone into yet. My brother walked in, and I willingly followed him inside, where Derek was already, looking frightened.

And I saw why. The walls of this room— a room almost twice the size of any of our bedrooms— was lined with weapons. Ghost weapons.

"What the…" I muttered. Why would a ghost be giving up ghost weapons? It didn't make any sense.

"Bizarre, right?" Theo asked. I nodded numbly. And here I'd thought that I couldn't be surprised by anything anymore.

I wandered over to a wall, picking up what looked like a bazooka of some sort. It was red and black— most of the things in this room were, actually. It seemed that whoever built these weapons had intentionally given them a uniform color scheme.

I barely even noticed the chill that suddenly came over the room.

"I see you've found your weapons," Plasmius said as he appeared in the room.

"Our… weapons?" I asked, eyes wide.

"Yes. Yours," Plasmius said, coming closer to me and laying a cold, undead hand on my shoulder. "My gift to you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Derek was now wielding one of the guns, pointing it directly at Plasmius.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" He cried.

Plasmius only snickered, letting go of my shoulder to approach Derek, who held his gun steady as Plasmius came closer.

"Trying to fight your way out of here, boy?" Plasmius said, grinning. "Fine, then. Let's see what you can do."

Derek shot at Plasmius, who easily dodged.

"Try a little harder," Plasmius said. "Anticipate my next move."

Plasmius' patronizing advice only infuriated Derek further, who shot at Plasmius until the gun was out of ammo. Plasmius was far too quick for Derek, though, and the ghost wasn't hit even once.

Plasmius clicked his tongue.

"Perhaps you won't be as useful as I'd originally thought," Plasmius said, examining Derek. "No matter. You, like your friends here, are expendable."

Plasmius charged an ectoplasmic blast in the palm of his hand, preparing to kill Derek, whose eyes were wide with fright.

My mind was a jumble.

_No, not Derek, not Derek, please, no, no, no…_

Plasmius raised his ecto-charged hand to Derek, who closed his eyes, preparing for the blow.

"No!" I cried, raising the bazooka I held and blasting Plasmius.

My shot hit him square in the chest, and he was flung to the other side of the room.

Plasmius' reaction puzzled me. I'd expected him to be angry, furious, even. But the ghost merely smiled and laughed. He peeled himself from the floor before bringing his hands together in slow applause.

"Very good, Vid," he praised. "You'll be just perfect!"

I didn't question this statement. It really didn't matter to me right now. Only one thing mattered. Derek.

"Don't hurt him," I pled. "Please, please, don't hurt him."

Plasmius chuckled.

"Of course not," Plasmius said. "Your friend will be safe, so long as your performance is satisfactory. You cooperate, he'll stay safe. And vice-versa, of course. Your fate is in your own hands."

My shoulders sagged in relief, though I didn't understand most of what he said. All I knew was that he said he wouldn't hurt Derek.

"Performance? What performance?" Derek asked, his voice shaking a little bit as he spoke.

Suddenly, a breath of blue air escaped Plasmius' mouth.

"I'm afraid I have to go now," Plasmius said. "But there's a DVD in the cabinet above the TV that should answer all of your questions."

And then Plasmius disappeared once more, and we were racing to the cabinet above the TV, pulling out a blank DVD case and popping the disc contained inside into the player.

_"Hello, Vid, Thrash, Download,"_ Plasmius greeted us from the TV screen. We all took a seat on the couch, preparing for whatever news our ghostly kidnapper would deliver.

_"I know you're all wondering why I've taken you,"_ Plasmius said. _"I mean, you three are perfectly normal teenagers. Normal grades, normal athletic abilities, normal teenage complexions…"_

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Theo blushing. My brother definitely didn't have great skin— his face was perpetually speckled with aggressively noticeable acne.

I hated this ghost even more for bringing it up.

_"But _this_ is why I've selected you," _Plasmius continued on the TV screen._ "I wanted normal teenagers for my project. What's my project, you ask? Well, it's quite simple, really._

_ "Amity Park is constantly plagued by ghost attacks. But you already knew this— you've lived here your whole lives, haven't you? It shouldn't be news to you, then, that this city needs more ghost hunters. Better ghost hunters."_

_ "The ones we have are, for the most part, inadequate," _Plasmius continued._ "The Red Huntress is good, but lacks support in our community. The Fentons are a joke. And Danny Phantom… well, he seems to do more harm than good most of the time, doesn't he?"_

_ "That's why I've enlisted you teens. To prove to our community how simple it is to fight ghosts, that even teenagers can do it. And not ghost ones, like Phantom!"_

Derek snorted.

"So, basically, he just wants to insult all of the ghost hunters in town?" Derek asked.

"Sounds like," I said, furrowing my brows. Why did this ghost care so much about one-upping the town's ghost hunters?

"Well… the Wisconsin Ghost _is _Phantom's arch-enemy," Theo muttered.

I blinked at my brother. I never knew he followed along with Phantom's fights. But he was right— Plasmius _was _Phantom's arch-nemesis.

"So this isn't about _all _of the ghost hunters in town," Derek said. "Just Phantom."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Theo said.

We redirected our attention to the TV.

_"I've manufactured all of the ghost-hunting weapons you could ever want. I have jumpsuits for all three of you, along with face-masks to hide your identity. You will be fighting as Vid, Download, and Thrash. You're going to be called __**Masters' Blasters**__."_

"Masters' Blasters?" I repeated. "Like, as in _Vlad _Masters? The mayor? What is this ghost getting at?"

_"Yes, as in Vlad Masters, the mayor. Which leads me to another point. There's something you need to know about me, children. I'm not merely Vlad Plasmius, the ghost. I am also Vlad Masters, the human."_

There was a flash of light as the ghost turned into our mayor, Vlad Masters. Derek and I gasped, our eyes going wide as we examined the transformation that had just taken place on our television screen. Theo simply raised an eyebrow.

"Huh. That's weird," Theo said.

Understatement of the century.

_"Yes, I am half-ghost. I was in a lab accident during college, and it turned me into what I am today. I'm not going to give you any more details than that. The less information you have, the better."_

Vlad Masters turned back into Vlad Plasmius before speaking again.

"_Now, in the cabinet where you found this DVD, you should also see three scripts. These contain your catchphrases and other lines you should deliver while fighting ghosts. I'll be watching you, making sure your performance is… satisfactory."_

The television went dark. Our explanation was over.

But I was more confused than I was to start with.

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**A/N:**

_I know this was a dull chapter. But the next one is one of my favorites._

_See you tomorrow._


	5. Chapter 5

**Previously:**

_Vlad Masters turned back into Vlad Plasmius before speaking again._

"_Now, in the cabinet where you found this DVD, you should also see three scripts. These contain your catchphrases and other lines you should deliver while fighting ghosts. I'll be watching you, making sure your performance is… satisfactory."_

_The television went dark. Our explanation was over._

_But I was more confused than I was to start with. _

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

Derek stepped up to the cabinet, opening it and grabbing three thick packets of paper— our "scripts." He handed one to each of us.

I glanced over the first page of the script while Theo and Derek did the same.

"_'Have a Righteous Day'?_" Derek read._ "_What is this, the 70's?"

"Plasmius… or, err, Masters… definitely doesn't keep up with modern-day lingo," Theo agreed, flipping through his script.

"'_Masters' Blasters stop disasters_,'" I read. "Guess that's our motto."

"This is going to be humiliating," Derek groaned.

"Well, they won't know it's us," Theo reasoned.

"Yeah," I said dryly. "They think we're dead."

They were silenced by my blunt observation.

I returned to my script, reading through what Plasmius wanted us to say while fighting ghosts. Most of it was ridiculous banter and catchphrases.

"Guys," I said. "We have to do this."

"I know," Derek grumbled. "But I'm not happy about it."

For minutes, we did nothing but flip through our scripts, orienting ourselves with our new identities.

"What did he say about costumes?" Theo asked.

"I don't know. But they're probably in our closets," I said.

We wandered back into our rooms, throwing open our closets, each of us finding a red and black jumpsuit and a matching mask. A _V _for Vid adorned my costume.

I pulled on the suit and mask, putting my red hair up into a ponytail and parting it so that a large chunk of it fell over one of my purple eyes.

I wandered back in the living room where Derek and Theo stood, wearing their new costumes.

"I look ridiculous," Derek moaned as I approached. His suit closely resembled mine other than the _D _for Download that adorned his chest. He wore his gray baseball cap forward over his mask.

"Here," I said, stepping forward and flipping his hat backwards. "That's better. It adds to the ambience."

Derek smirked.

Theo had pulled his long, blonde hair into a ponytail, and he looked more than a little threatening in his new red and black jumpsuit. If I were a ghost (and not his sister) I'd probably be scared of him.

There was a mirror on the back wall of our living room. We all wandered toward it.

We looked like a team. We stood there without speaking for a while, simply watching ourselves in the mirror. Masters' Blasters.

"Radical, dude," Derek said in a California surfer-dude accent, wearing a lopsided grin.

We all burst out laughing.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

For the rest of the day, we read through our scripts together.

It took us a long time to say our lines without laughing.

"Guys," I said through my laughter. "This is serious! We've got to stop laughing! He'll kill us if we give ourselves away!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Derek said, still laughing, tears running down his face.

We eventually grew more serious, though Derek did insist on keeping the surfer-dude accent when reading his lines. Eventually, I started reading Vid's lines with a slight lisp, much to the amusement of my companions.

By nine-o-clock, we'd all mastered our new identities, and we headed off to bed.

I got to my room, peeling off my costume and putting on some pajamas I found in my closet before climbing into bed.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

I was tired, but I couldn't sleep. Images flashed behind my retinas when I closed my eyes. I saw fire, I heard screaming. I recalled the smile Plasmius wore as he murdered my parents and my younger sister.

_"Violet! Help me!" _she'd cried.

I couldn't help her. I couldn't help any of them.

Tears leaked from my eyes, and for once, I didn't try to stop them. Warm tears made trails down my cheeks as I wished I were anywhere but here, in this fancy suite, in this rich ghosts' home.

For the longest time, I just lay there, crying. Stifling sobs, but letting the tears come down. Eventually, I was calm once more, but I still couldn't sleep. Sitting up, I wandered into the living room, and was surprised to find Derek sitting in the living room. He was wearing flannel pajamas similar to my own, and he was watching the television, muted. He looked up when he heard me coming.

"Violet," Derek asked. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, but my voice broke. Just when I thought I'd cried myself dry, I felt like crying again.

Derek stood up, and before I realized what I was doing, I rushed into his arms. Derek held me close while I cried softly.

For the longest time, I stood there in his embrace. Eventually, I backed away, using the heels of my hands to wipe my tears away. Derek brought his hands up to my shoulders.

"We'll be all right, Violet," Derek said. "You know we'll be all right."

"I know," I said. "I just… I miss my parents. And my sister. I'm glad you and Theo are alive, but… I can't help thinking that this is all our fault."

"Why?" Derek asked.

"Derek, the only reason he killed our families was to kidnap us," I said.

"Violet, we don't have any control over what Plasmius did to us," Derek said. "It's _not _our fault. It's his."

"But… if it weren't for us…" I said.

"What are you saying, Violet?" Derek said, his grip on my shoulders tightening. "That you wish you'd never been born? Violet… the only reason this has _anything_ to do with us is because Plasmius made it that way."

I looked up into Derek's eyes. The urgency that colored his voice was reflected in his olive green eyes. I found myself unable to look away, my violet eyes trapped in his.

"You're right, Derek," I said softly. "I was being stupid."

Suddenly, I realized how close our faces were. If I just leaned in a few inches, I'd be kissing him.

_Wait, kissing him? What am I thinking?_

But the urge was there. I wrenched myself out of Derek's arms, backing away.

"Violet, what's wrong?" Derek asked.

"N-nothing, Derek," I stuttered. "I just… I'm going to bed. Thanks for talking to me."

I turned around, sprinting to my room, quickly shutting the door behind me. I fell back against the door, letting myself crumple into a sitting position. I put my head in my hands, breathing deeply, trying to slow my racing heartbeat.

_What's going on here?_

I couldn't trust myself around Derek anymore. This much I knew. If I'd stayed in his arms for another second, I would most likely have given in and kissed him.

I couldn't let that happen. It would ruin our friendship. I couldn't risk that.

I drew a shaky breath, standing up, wandering over to my bed. Suddenly, I was exhausted. I fell asleep moments after my head hit the pillow.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

_Review, please! See you tomorrow!_

_-Emmyrad_


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Plasmius awoke us with news— we'd be starting "training" today.

"You can't fight ghost without the proper instruction," Plasmius informed us.

And so it was. For the next few days, we were constantly training with Plasmius in a gym-like room he had in his house. We learned how to use our weapons to effectively stun, harm, and capture ghosts.

Our all-day training sessions made it easy for me to avoid Derek. I didn't want to risk getting close to him and doing something rash.

I immersed myself in training, and was surprised to discover that I actually enjoyed ghost-hunting. I found our ecto-weapons fascinating, and often found myself asking Plasmius how they functioned.

"You really like this, don't you?" Theo asked me one day. It wasn't an accusation. Just a question.

"Yeah, I do," I admitted. "It's fascinating, really. I think… if this hadn't happened, I think I might've gone into paranormal studies anyway."

Actually, before all this had happened, I thought I'd wanted to be a musician. I loved music with a passion… I always had.

But my love for music was different than this love for ghost-hunting. Whenever I had to perform or practice my music for hours on end, I would quickly tire and get bored. But when Plasmius dismissed us to our rooms in the evening after another all-day training session, I was always disappointed. Craving more.

"I'm as big a kook as the Fentons," I mused.

I think Derek noticed I was avoiding him. I mean, how couldn't he? He was my best friend. He knew me better than anybody else. But, much to my relief, he didn't confront me about it.

Theo did, though.

"What happened with you and Derek?" He asked me one night. Derek was in his room, making use of his skateboard ramp. I was in Theo's room, flipping through his books.

"Nothing," I quickly said, blushing.

"Really?" He said, sounding skeptical.

"Really," I said. "Nothing happened between us. And I'm going to make sure it stays that way."

Theo raised his eyebrow in response… his way of saying that he wouldn't rest until he had an explanation.

"Look, I just have these… feelings for him… that I need to sort through," I said. "That's all."

I'd expected Theo to gloat— after all, he was the one who'd always been trying to get us together throughout the years. But my older brother surprised me once more.

"Well, sort quickly," was all Theo said. "I can tell he misses you."

"I miss him too," I said quietly before returning to the book I'd been reading.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

It'd been a week since we'd come here. Plasmius flew in around lunch time.

"Today's the day," he announced.

"The day for what?" Derek asked.

"Your big debut," Plasmius said. "Today's the day you'll fight your first ghost."

My stomach dropped. I guess some part of me had known this day would come— I mean, after all, we couldn't simply train forever. But it had only been a few days since we started training!

"Are you sure we're ready?" I asked, apprehension creeping into my voice.

"I'm quite certain, yes," Plasmius said. He proceeded to hand us all high-tech looking watches. We'd used these during training— Derek's watch included a function where he could "download" ghosts at the press of a button, capturing them in his watch.

"After you capture the ghost, Vid will press the green button on her watch," Plasmius instructed. I glanced at the watch— sure enough, a large green button was in the center of it. It'd be pretty hard to miss.

"How do you even know there's a ghost out there that we can fight today?" I wondered, narrowing my eyes.

"I've made sure to set the stage properly for your performance," Plasmius said vaguely. I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his non-answer.

"Let's depart, then," Plasmius said.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

Plasmius introduced us to the black and red van we'd be driving. It had many functions, all clearly labeled for us.

"Thrash will be driving," Plasmius instructed. Derek and I could drive— I mean, we were sixteen, after all— but we had only just gotten our licenses, so we couldn't drive other non-family members for another year. Theo was eighteen, so he was the clear choice of driver.

Derek took the seat beside Theo, and I sat in the back. Theo glanced at the controls— which Plasmius had labeled for us— before starting the van and driving off. Plasmius floated behind us, waving.

I bit my lip. I was scared. Our first ghost fight.

Plasmius had so graciously entered in the coordinates where the ghost attack would take place into the GPS system. Theo obediently followed the directions, taking us into downtown Amity Park.

Danny Phantom was already there, fighting what looked like a transformer. I knew it was our job to upstage him.

"All right, guys," I said. "Let's do this."

We hopped out of the van. The transformer car-bot was zooming forward, about to crush two teens I recognized from Casper High. Theo quickly wielded a rope, and with expert aim lassoed the robot's leg, stopping it from moving forward.

"Yo! I got it, Vid!" Theo said.

Oh, right— we were in character now.

"Awesome, Thrash!" I praised. "Take it, Download!"

Derek obediently pressed the button on his watch, and the robot was sucked into his watch.

"Downloaded, chyaaaaa," Derek said, and I stifled laughter at the accent he'd taken on.

I ran forward, high-fiving Derek, who grinned at me.

A green, scrawny-looking ghost, presumably the one who'd created the robot, floated forward to glare at us.

"Adolescents? How dare you!" The ghost cried. A crowd had formed to watch us. I aimed my watch at the ghost, letting glowing red CDs shoot out of it.

"And another thing; the high-tech look is _my _bit!" The ghost continued, but then my CDs pierced him. He cried out in pain as he was shocked.

Derek raised his watch, pressing his button. The ghost was sucked into the wrist accessory.

"Ghost guy gone. Area safe. Have a righteous day," Derek said. I nearly burst out laughing again, but I controlled myself, playing off the titter that escaped my lips simply as glee at having caught the ghost.

"Masters' Blasters stop disasters!" We three all chimed together, punching the air. We posed for the crowd, who swarmed in on us, cheering.

_Now is the time to press that button_, I realized. I push the green button on my watch, which started to glow red. I aim it in the air above me. A video of mayor Vlad Masters was projected into the air.

"Greetings, citizens!" Masters cried. "I hope you've enjoyed this presentation of Amity Park's newest teen ghost fighting team- Masters' Blasters."

I didn't listen to Masters' speech. Everything was so overwhelming right now— our first victory, the cheering crowds, trying to keep Vid's signature smile plastered on my face. I was so happy to have caught the ghost, but all I wanted to do right now was celebrate alone with Theo and Derek.

Eventually, the video was sucked back into my watch— obviously, Masters' speech was over. I glanced at Theo and Derek, who nodded. We ran over to where our van was parked, hopping in and driving off.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

_Six chapters down, eight more to go!_

_See you tomorrow… Friday! Man, this week's just flown by._

_-Emmyrad_


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as the crowds were out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief. I was so glad not to be the center of attention anymore. I let the full weight of the day's events come down on me. Amazing— we'd really caught a ghost!

"That was awesome!" Derek cried, echoing my thoughts as he peeled off his mask.

"You were great, Derek," I said, grinning. He turned around in his seat, smiling at me, his olive eyes flickering with joy. My plan to stay away from him was completely forgotten as I met those eyes. There was no way in hell I could avoid him any longer.

"Not as great as you were, Violet!" Derek cried. "That was so cool!"

Much to my dismay, I giggled. It should be noted that I _never _giggle. Like, _ever_.

Derek's grin only grew at my outburst, and I tried to smother my smile to glare at him. Unsuccessfully.

Theo was at the wheel, driving us back home— or wherever home was these days. Like Derek and I, he wore a smile, but he didn't seem nearly as pleased.

"What's up, Theo?" I asked. Theo bit his lip, his eyes coming off the road for a second to glance back at me.

"It's just… did you see how upset Phantom looked?" Theo asked.

I nodded, my mood darkening as I recalled the expression Danny Phantom wore as he watched Vlad's announcement.

All three of us were suddenly sobered, the initial joy at our success dampened by the realization that our triumph was not good for Amity Park's teen ghost superhero.

"Did… you hear what Plasmius… err, Masters… said in his speech?" Derek asked from the front seat. "'_They're going to stop ghosts and succeed where Danny Phantom has so obviously failed. My plan is very simple; out with the old and in with the new. And the old should give up now, if he knows what's good for him_!'"

"The old," I repeated. "That's Danny Phantom."

"Exactly," Theo said. "There's no question about it— this whole scheme was designed to upset Phantom."

My eyebrows furrowed as I contemplated this.

"Doesn't it seem like there must be something _more _than that?" I asked. "I mean, Plasmius… or, err, Masters… went through a _lot_ to kidnap us and train us to fight ghosts. If his plan were just to embarrass Phantom… well, aren't there easier ways to do that?"

"You're right," Theo said, nodding. "We're missing something here."

I sighed, glancing down at my watch. It was too tight, nearly cutting off circulation. I loosened its strap, leaving the watch slack on my wrist.

We were almost back to Plasmius' mansion— we could see it approaching on the horizon. Theo slowed down, pulling up to the house and into its already-open garage. The garage door closed and locked behind us. We exited the car, and Plasmius appeared in front of us.

"You all did very well today," was all he said before guiding us back to our suite, through the infinite ornate hallways, through the maze that was the Masters manor.

The suite door closed behind us, and we all plopped down onto our couch.

"What do you guys want for lunch?" I asked, getting up and moving toward the fridge.

"Anything but pizza," Derek said, groaning.

I grinned. I really had missed Derek.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

The day passed quickly, and soon, night fell upon Amity Park, and we were yawning, saying our goodnights and heading off to bed.

I peeled off my jumpsuit, took off my mask, put on my pajamas…

Suddenly, I realized something was missing.

"My watch!" I cried, glancing at my wrist. Sure enough, the watch was gone.

I gave the suite a quick once-over, but alas, the watch was nowhere to be found.

I groaned, pressing my face into my hands. I remembered loosening the watch's strap in the van— it probably had fallen off in the hallways somewhere on the way to our room.

Cautiously, I reached for the suite doors, and was surprised to find them unlocked. I peered into the hallway, making sure the coast was clear, before stepping out. The hallways were dimly lit, and I scanned the floors for my watch as I walked barefoot through the winding corridors.

A half-hour later, I was hopelessly lost, and I hadn't found my watch yet.

I kept walking, though, and eventually I found myself in a familiar area. One that we'd walked through this morning. I sighed in relief, glad to not be lost any more.

A red glint caught my eye, and I spotted my watch on the ground. I did a little happy-dance before picking up the device and re-securing it on my wrist— tightly.

I was about to head back to our rooms when suddenly, an open door at the end of this hallway caught my eye. Before I knew what I was doing, I was wandering toward the door, intrigued.

_What are you doing, Violet? _The reasonable part of my mind snapped. _Plasmius is probably in there! What'll he do if he sees you're out of the suite?_

But I was far too drowsy to think straight. I wandered forward toward the door and poked my head into the room, and, not seeing anybody inside, I entered.

The far wall was lined with electronic screens, one after the other. Like one of those rooms you always see security guards in on TV.

I wandered toward the screens, trying to figure out who our ghostly kidnapper was spying on. In one image, a redheaded girl lay in bed, obviously fast asleep. She looked familiar. I squinted, concentrating, before realizing this girl was none other than Jazz Fenton. She was a senior at Casper High, two grades ahead of me.

"Why is Plasmius spying on the Fentons?" I murmured. Sure, the Fentons _were _ghost hunters, but Plasmius had made it clear that he didn't consider them a threat of any sort.

I glanced over the screens, eventually finding the image that showed Mr. and Mrs. Fenton in their beds, sleeping as soundly as their daughter. I could see Mr. Fenton's chest vibrating with no-doubt loud snores. Mrs. Fenton had earplugs in.

My eyes wandered again, finally catching sight of movement. My eyes locked on a screen in the center of the rest of them, one that showed a teenage boy's room.

Said teenage boy currently sat awake at his desk, writing something.

"Danny Fenton," I murmured. The boy was in my grade… he'd lived in Amity Park his whole life, like us. I remembered going to preschool with him. I'd like to say that I knew the boy well, but I really didn't. He always was so… cut off from the world.

The rest of our class considered him something of a punching bag. Dash Baxter in particular made a habit of beating up the boy. Danny would constantly come to school with cuts and bruises, which I always assumed was from the bullying he had to endure. I mean, where else would he get so hurt?

I watched Danny Fenton for a few minutes. He had a schoolbook open beside him at his desk, and he was glancing to it every few seconds as he scribbled down things on a separate piece of paper.

_He's probably taking notes_, I realized, remembering how this year Danny was in my history class, where we had nightly reading notes. I felt a little sick, remembering how my life used to be, eating dinner with my mom and dad and sister and Theo before going up to my room and working on the notes before I went to bed. Just like Danny was doing now.

I suddenly felt really guilty that I hadn't stood up for Danny at school. Seeing him like this… well, I felt like I could relate to him. I'd always considered Danny Fenton… different. A freak, just like what the rest of the kids called him. I realized now how stupid I'd been. Why would I listen to a jerk like Dash Baxter? Danny wasn't any different from the rest of us.

Just as I was thinking this, a breath of blue air escaped Danny's mouth, and he tensed. I briefly wondered whether the wisp of air was simply a trick of the light, but suddenly, the boy had bolted upright and was in battle stance.

There was a flash of white light that blinded the camera, and then Danny Phantom stood where Danny Fenton had just moments before.

My heart stuttered.

"Danny Phantom is Danny _Fenton_?" I asked aloud, to nobody. Disbelief made my legs wobble; I barely could keep myself upright on my unsteady limbs.

It made sense. It made too much sense. Why hadn't I seen it? Just like Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius, these two Dannys were one.

I was suddenly racing back to my room, determined to deliver this news to my friends.

"Fenton is Phantom, Fenton is Phantom, Fenton is Phantom," I chanted to myself quietly as I ran.

I closed my eyes, pushing forward through endless corridors, a mouse running through a maze, scurrying blindly forward to find the metaphorical cheese that lay in our rooms. Eventually I found myself at the doors to our suite. Pushing open the wide double doors, I ran inside.

"WAKE UP!" I cried. Seconds later, Theo and Derek were awake and at my side, taking in my frenzied expression and panting breaths with looks of concern.

"Violet!" Derek said, his hands on my shoulders. "What is it, Violet?"

"Fenton… is Phantom," I murmured before passing out.


	8. Chapter 8

_Fenton is Phantom, Fenton is Phantom, Fenton is Phantom, Fenton is Phantom._

I awoke about an hour later, my head pounding. I open heavy eyelids to find myself on our couch, Derek kneeling next to me.

"Derek," I murmured. He held my hand. I wish he wouldn't. It was making it harder for me to concentrate. What was it I needed to tell them again?

"Fenton is Phantom," I blurted. "Fenton is Phantom. Fenton is Phantom!"

Theo approached, holding a wet paper towel, which he set against my forehead. I reached up and held it there. It felt good.

"What do you mean, Violet?" Derek pressed. "What do you mean by that?"

Suddenly, the images I'd seen on Plasmius' screens came back to me. I remembered seeing the Fentons sound asleep, save for Danny Fenton, doing homework. I remembered watching Danny Fenton change into Danny Phantom. I remembered running back here. I must've fainted.

"Danny Fenton—he's a half ghost," I said. "Like Plasmius."

It took me a half-hour to explain the whole story, from me losing my watch to what I'd seen to me rushing back here in my half-crazed stupor.

"What bothers me is that it makes so much sense," I said. "I mean, I've never seen the two of them in one place. Fenton always seems to have to go to the bathroom right before a ghost attack. Plus they look pretty similar, save the hair and eye color. Even more similar than Masters and Plasmius look. How could we have not seen it until now?"

"Why would we have seen it?" Theo said. "We didn't even know this kind of thing was possible until we came here."

Derek was just shaking his head. His eyes wide. Freaking out, just like I had.

"This is insane," Derek said, shaking his head. "This is so insane."

Derek's hand was still in mine, and I squeezed it reassuringly. He raised his head to smile weakly at me.

"How did Plasmius say he got his powers?" I asked Theo. "A lab accident?"

"Yes," Theo said. "And Danny's parents are ghost hunters. I could easily see Danny getting into an accident similar to Plasmius' with one of his parents' inventions."

"I guess that makes sense," Derek said. But his tone implied that he still thought all of this was just crazy. Because it was.

In the world that we'd lived in before our families were murdered, half-ghosts didn't exist. Fenton was just that clumsy kid we went to school with. Masters was just the mayor of Amity Park. Phantom was just a teen ghost superhero. Plasmius was just his ghostly arch-foe.

We were all so naïve back then.

We sat in silence for a while, before Theo stretched and stood up.

"Look, I'm going to bed," Theo said. "Good night, you two."

He got up and went to his room, leaving Derek and me alone in the living room.

"Are you going to be all right, Derek?" I asked softly.

His olive green eyes flickered to mine, and he smiled.

"Yeah. It's just… a lot to take in," he said.

"I know. Theo's being crazy-calm about this, isn't he?" I asked.

"What else is new?" Derek said.

"Right," I said, laughing lightly, glad we could joke around again.

"Look, Violet," Derek said, sighing. "Don't sneak off alone like that again, okay? I need you to be safe."

I glanced up, a little bit taken aback by the change of subject. His eyes locked onto mine, and I could tell he was serious.

So many different emotions comingled in those olive green irises of his.

Fear. Apprehension. Urgency. Protectiveness.

…love?

_No. Not love. Derek's my friend. My best friend. Nothing more._

"I won't," I agreed.

Derek kissed my forehead before getting up to go to bed.

The place on my forehead he'd kissed tingled pleasantly. I couldn't stop the blush and smile that appeared on my face… though I did at least have the sensibility to hide my face from him until he'd left.

_My best friend. He's my best friend…_

I suddenly had the urge to run right back out of our suite.

_But, no, I promised Derek._

Derek.

I moaned. Why did I have to be feeling these things now, when I had so many other things to deal with? The death of my family, our new careers as ghost hunters, the shocking news about Danny Fenton…

And yet it seemed like the only thing I could think about was Derek. Derek's smile, Derek's eyes, Derek's laugh…

I glanced at the clock, my eyes widening as I saw it was already past midnight.

Yawning, I stood up, managing to make my way back into my room before collapsing into bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

The next week or so passed in a blur of activity. Every day, we had a new ghost to fight and capture. Vlad would plug its location into our GPS, and then we were off, no longer Derek, Violet, and Theo, but Download, Vid, and Thrash, Masters' Blasters, the town's new superheroes.

Phantom was old news. Every time we caught a ghost, he ended up humiliating himself.

People cheered for Masters' Blasters. People forgot Danny Phantom. It was horrible. Everything about what we had to do was horrible. I wanted to scream at our fans. Knock some sense into them. Tell them they were wrong, we weren't that special. Tell them to stop treating us like royalty.

Because no matter how many ghosts we caught, we could never be half the hero Danny Phantom was.

Danny did everything he did because he cared.

He didn't ask for the fame, the kind that we were receiving, with parades and action figures and fan clubs.

He didn't ask for recognition, keeping his identity a secret, letting himself get bullied by Dash Baxter and the other jocks at school when he could easily have taken them out.

At some points, the whole town was against him, yet he kept fighting to keep them all safe.

But people didn't realize how amazing Danny was. All they saw was _us_ now, some new idols to worship, some new trend to follow.

I hated it.


	9. Chapter 9

The parade was horrific for Danny's image. The ghost kid destroyed a parade balloon, and the town now loathed him once more.

Vlad was the first to bring up Phantom's error, of course. He floated up to the ghost kid in his hover-car, smiling wickedly.

"Yes, as you can see, Amity Park is in much cooler, safer hands, thanks to Masters' Blasters," Vlad said, looking triumphant.

In that moment, I hated Vlad Masters more than I'd ever hated anybody in my entire life.

"Phantom's a better ghost than you'll ever be!" Derek hissed under his breath as soon as we were all back in our parade float. We continued to wave out at the audience, hiding our fury behind forced smiles.

Vlad glared at Derek, the half-ghost's smile faltering and turning into a scowl, and for one second, I thought Vlad was going to kill him, and I was ready to lunge in front of Derek and beg for my friend's life…

But then Vlad simply laughed.

"Not to worry, child," he said. "Phantom is out of the picture. _For good_."

Even after the parade was over, and we were back in our mansion, wandering through the hallways and back into our rooms, Vlad's statement still was ringing in our heads.

"What did he mean by that?" Derek asked aloud as we walked through the corridors to our suite. "Is he… is he going to _kill _Danny? Is Danny already dead?"

"I hope not," I said, gulping, a sick feeling in my stomach. I wish there was just some way to see if Danny Fenton was all right…

I glanced over to our left and, when my eyes snagged on an open door a few feet in front of us, stopped walking entirely.

We currently stood before the room that contained the live footage from the surveillance cameras inside the Fenton household. The room where I'd found out Danny Fenton was only half-alive. The room that now contained the answer as to whether Fenton was alive at all anymore.

"Come on!" I said, grabbing Derek and Theo and pulling them with me into the room.

I immediately rushed over to the back wall that contained the screens, trying to spot Danny.

"Here," Theo said, pointing to a screen that showed the Fenton's lab.

Sure enough, there was Danny, sitting with his head in his hands, his older sister standing above him along with the boy's two best friends.

Danny's parents were currently wearing welding masks, working on some electronic crater in their wall. It appeared to be a portal of sorts.

_"I always that Phantom kid was a menace!" _Jack Fenton said from on-screen._ "Not only did he nearly kill Sam and Tucker, but he destroyed a perfectly good parade balloon… and that's just plain un-American."_

"His parents don't know he's Phantom?" I gasped. I couldn't imagine keeping such a big secret from my own parents.

"Apparently not," Derek said, looking concerned.

"But they _do _seem to hate Phantom," Theo said. "If I were Danny, I wouldn't want to tell them, either."

_"But Dad, it was just an accident," _Jazz Fenton countered. _"I, for one, am glad there's someone out there protecting us."_

We caught Jazz winking at Danny on-screen.

"Well, he's obviously told his sister," I said.

_"Me too! And they're called Masters' Blasters!" _Jack said._ "Vladdie's team has style, guts, acne, and they're humans! Plus, they gave me this zippity-neato* poster!"_

We glanced over at the poster Jack was motioning towards, and I vaguely remembered Vlad dictating how he wanted us to sign it: "To the old guy in the orange suit: stop bothering us!" I'd thought the autograph was cruel, but obviously it hadn't affected Jack Fenton's love for us in the least.

I mean, the man was practically saying he preferred _us_ to his own _son_. Not that he knew his son was Phantom, or anything, but still. Harsh.

On-screen, Danny looked depressed, still holding his head in his hands.

_ "Why are your folks messing with the Fenton Portal?" _An African-American boy that I recognized as one of Danny Fenton's best friends suddenly asked. We'd saved Samantha Manson and him today at the parade. What was his name again?

_"Dad's breaking it down to stage one so he can update the software," _Jazz Fenton responded. _"He says this way he'll be able to catch ghosts _and _download songs faster."_

_ "Isn't science awesome?" _the boy said, grinning. Tucker Foley— that was his name.

"Fenton Portal," Theo muttered. "Hey, I've read about that! A few years ago, the Fentons apparently found a way to break down the barrier between our universe and the 'Ghost Zone.' This must be the portal they created that leads there."

"Cool!" I said, suddenly interested in the device Jack and Madeleine Fenton were working on.

Movement caught my eye from behind where Danny sat, and I looked over to see Samantha Manson, a Goth girl from our school, approaching from behind the boy.

_"It kind of looks the same way it did when you first got your ghost powers, Danny," _she said, smiling.

I glanced over at Theo and Derek, whose eyes widened. If they hadn't believed me about Danny being Phantom before, this was all the proof that they needed.

_"Can we stop talking about my powers, please?" _Danny snapped, suddenly enraged. "_They're causing me nothing but problems lately. I'm starting to think that maybe we'd all be better off without them."_

"Oh, no," I said. "What is he thinking?"

Danny's parents left, saying something about bunions (gross!). Once they were gone, Danny stood up and stepped forward, approaching the portal.

_"This thing gave me my powers…" _Danny said, wandering up to the portal. "_I wonder if it could…?"_

_ "Danny, what are you thinking?" _Jazz said, approaching Danny.

_ "Name one good reason why I should keep my powers_," Danny said.

I gasped, stumbling backwards.

"He's going to try to take away his powers!" Derek cried, his eyes widening.

"We've got to get over there and stop him!" I cried.

"Right," Theo said, grabbing Derek and me. "Hold on tight."

A flash of white light engulfed us, and then, just like that, we were only a few feet shy of the Fenton household.

"Wha-?" I began, confused.

"Teleportation device embedded in our watches," Theo explained, holding up his wrist. "Vlad had already plugged in the GPS coordinates to downtown Amity Park, right near the Fenton's house."

We sprinted up to the door, and Theo immediately reached for the doorbell and rung it.

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton answered the door, smiling.

"Hey, Masters' Blasters! Remember me?" Jack said, grinning. "The old orange guy?"

_Oh, shit,_ I thought. _They'll never let us get down to the lab in time to stop Danny! Think, Violet, think!_

Suddenly, inspiration struck. It wasn't going to be pretty, but it was necessary…

I reached out with my watch, pressed a button, and soon the Fentons were pinned to the back wall with a glowing crimson net. I barely avoided cringing as they were electrocuted. I hated that I had to do this.

"Jack and Madeleine Fenton, our readings indicate an ectoplasmic entity on the premises," I said, taking on my Vid voice.

Derek seemed to catch on. He didn't so much as glance in my direction as he said his line, the one we'd been taught by Vlad for house-raids like the one I was trying to make this one appear to be.

"By order of the mayor, you're both under arrest for harboring a ghost," Derek said.

"The Fentons? Harboring a ghost?" Jack Fenton boomed. "That's preposterous!"

"Sorry, dudes, but we're going to have to check the place," Derek said. "It's the law. We'll just need…"

Suddenly, Danny Fenton's screams emerged from downstairs. The lab.

Theo flashed me a worried look.

"Um, the origin of the ecto-activity seems to be stemming from your lab," I said. "Would you mind pointing us in the right direction?"

"Just through the kitchen," Madeleine Fenton said, sounding worried. She'd heard her boy's scream, too. "Check on Danny for me, will you?"

I nodded curtly, and then we were racing downstairs, even though we knew we were too late.

As soon as we started down the stairs down to the basement, we could hear their voices.

"Did he just do what I think he just did?" Tucker's voice echoed up toward us.

"You mean step back into the Fenton Portal, remove his ghost powers, and revert his DNA profile back to that of a normal human?" Jazz asked.

"I was going to say 'Go Un-Ghost,' but that works too," Tucker replied.

By this time, we were all the way down the stairs. We were too late, far too late, but we had to keep up the charade. Make it convincing. I put on my mean face.

"Greetings, dudes!" I said. "We're here to, like, police the premises for any sign of spectral activity!"

"Just go about your business," Derek said as we all pulled out our ecto-tracking devices. "We're not even here."

We moved about the room, scanning various random objects with our devices. Just for show.

Derek was the one who finally approached the disheveled boy who lay on the ground. Danny Fenton. His clothes were burnt and torn and his black hair now had a giant white streak through the middle. The goth girl, Sam, huddled over him protectively as Derek came up with his device and scanned them. From the various other areas of the room, we could hear the device process and come out negative.

_No ghost. Danny Fenton's human again. We're too late._

"Place is clean. No ectos," Theo said, sounding resigned.

We all trudged away, except for Derek, who hung back, grabbing Tucker Foley's signature red hat and taking out his autograph-signing pen.

"Here you go, dude," Derek said, signing the boy's hat _Download. _"And remember, the mayor— _who watches constantly_— loves you!"

We walked slowly back up the stairs.

"You could've very well just given us all away," Theo said, raising an eyebrow in Derek's direction as we walked.

"I think they have a right to know that they're all being spied on by Masters," Derek said dryly. "It's dangerous out there for Danny now. Without his powers, he's easy prey for Vlad."

"It was definitely stupid of him to step back in that portal," I agreed. "But it was also kind of stupid of you to say that to Tucker."

"Indeed it was," a ghostly voice said, and we all gasped as Vlad Plamius appeared in front of us. He cloned himself until three of him hovered before us, and then he went the three Vlads all went intangible and one of them grabbed each one of us, making us intangible and flying us out of Fenton Works.

"Let me go!" I cried as I squirmed in the ghost's arms. We were flying high above the city now, speeding back toward Vlad's mansion.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are still trapped!" Derek protested. "We need to go back and get them out of that net!"

"Don't worry," the Vlad that carried Derek said. "Jack and Maddie are safe now. In jail."

I shook my head, letting angry tears come out of my eyes. I hated Vlad Masters. I hated Vlad Plasmius. I hated this.

_But it'll all be over soon, _I realized. _Vlad's going to kill us all now. We snuck out… we tried to help Danny Phantom… we know too much…_

We landed inside Vlad's mansion, drifting into our suite. Vlad's clones dissipated, leaving only one very angry-looking Plasmius.

"So, when are you going to kill us?" Theo asked, as calmly as ever.

"Kill you? Don't you get it, child? I _can't _kill you!" Vlad said, sounding anguished. "You're all in the public eye now! If I got rid of you, I'd lose all credibility I've gained as mayor since I enlisted all of you! Even if I made it look like an accident… no, I couldn't kill you. Not yet, anyway."

"Not yet? Then, when?" I asked, my voice raw from the effort it took to hold back angry tears. "You can't just leave us hanging like this!"

"Actually, I think I _can_," Vlad said, glaring at me. "For now, though… I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well."

Vlad teleported away, leaving three very, very frightened teens behind.

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_Long chapter, I know! I just couldn't find a better place to break it off than all the way down here._

_But I _love_ this chapter, which is why I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to post it. So I posted it tonight._

_Anyway. Chapter ten will be up tomorrow. I just wanted to post this one early._

_-Emmyrad_

*_Yes, I know "zippety-neato" probably isn't the adjective Jack uses here, but I really couldn't understand what word he used in the episode, even after re-watching this part dozens of times. It sounded like complete gibberish to me! Does anybody know?_


	10. Chapter 10

We all slept in our living room that night, on the floor. We were too frightened to be alone.

But despite our fears, the next day merely brought more ghosts to fight. Vlad did come up to our suites midday, but only to deliver upgraded watches. After studying these new watches for a bit, Theo concluded that they were very similar to our old ones in design… but it seemed that each of them now had a tracking device embedded inside.

Vlad started locking our suite doors behind us, too. Any hope of escaping evaporated.

Our ghost-hunting schedule increased ridiculously; we were out far too early in the morning and way late into the night tracking down the miniscule ghosts that Phantom normally took care of.

I finally could genuinely appreciate how much the half-ghost hero of Amity Park really gave to us.

But now the ghost boy was gone, probably for good.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

It was a little past noon, and I was in my room, listening to music at full volume. My eyes were closed as the bass shook the room.

At first, I didn't even realize it when Derek burst into my room, tears in his eyes.

"Violet! Violet!" He screamed. Hearing him, I looked up, catching sight of my distressed friend. I turned off the music and rushed toward him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I pleaded.

Derek took my hand and brought me into the living room, where Theo sat in front of the TV, watching the screen, expressionless.

"A giant asteroid," Theo explained in his disturbingly-calm manner. "It's going to crash into Earth. They say we have one week."

"One… week?" I repeated. "One week until we're all dead?"

"If nothing is done, then yes," Theo said.

"_If nothing is done_?There isn't anything to do, Theo!" Derek cried. "It's a giant asteroid! We're all going to die!"

"Weren't we already?" Theo asked, smiling faintly.

And it was true. We already knew _our _days were numbered; we were working for a half-ghost super villain, after all.

"But _everybody_ is going to die," I said softly. "Not just us. Everybody."

I sunk down to the floor, sitting down, burying my head in my hands.

"I hate this," Derek said, his voice wavering. "All this time, we've been working for Plasmius to stay alive, and now we're all going to die anyway?"

"I know," Theo said, sighing. "It's… not ideal."

"Somebody's going to stop this," I protested. "It can't end like this!"

"I hope you're right, Violet," Theo said.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

The next couple of days passed slowly as we prepared for our deaths. We spent the mornings and afternoons sitting in the living room watching the news and talking quietly. Wishing things were different. At night, we slept side-by-side on the living room floor. More often than not, we would spend hours laying awake before finally falling asleep. Then somebody would have a nightmare, waking the rest of us up with their thrashing and screaming.

We didn't fight any ghosts for those few days. In fact, there didn't seem to be any ghosts in Amity Park at all. I figured the ghosts had sensed the oncoming threat and were now in hiding in the Ghost Zone.

After a few days, Vlad came up to our rooms.

"I take it you've heard the news about the Disasteroid?" he asked in greeting. We nodded.

"Well, I'm funding a private mission to stop the asteroid," Vlad said. "I'm going to need all of your help."

"There have been tons of missions to destroy the asteroid," Derek spat. "What makes yours any different?"

"Mine is being led by the Fentons," Vlad said, smiling. "And, of course, you three, who will be joining Mr. Fenton in a rocket that will be headed out deep into space to rid of the Disasteroid."

"I… what?" I asked. I was confused. I'd assumed Vlad hated the Fentons. Why was he teaming up with them?

_Desperate times call for desperate measures_, I mused.

"Now, hear me out, children," Vlad said. "I've been thinking about it, and I've realized… I have no more use for you three."

"So you're killing us?" Theo asked.

"No, no. I'm simply saying that it might be time to let you all free," Vlad said.

"What?" I asked, shaking my head, confused.

"If you three succeed in destroying that asteroid," Vlad said, a hint of a smile on his face. "I will let all three of you free. You don't have to hunt ghosts any more, you can do whatever you'd like. As long as you keep your mouth shut about my secret."

"And… what if we don't succeed?" I asked.

"Well, then it won't even matter!" Vlad said, laughing. "You'll all be dead anyway!"

I glanced over at Derek and Theo, who nodded. We'd do it. We'd destroy that asteroid.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

Jack Fenton didn't seem to have any hard feelings about how we'd arrested him the last time we'd seen him, at least judging by the way he chatted with us as we headed into space. The further we got into space, the more nervous I grew. But we had to maintain our cocky alter-egos; Vid, Thrash, and Download did not get scared.

Finally, after hours of flying, we spotted the asteroid.

"Readying seismic drill charges," Jack Fenton cried. "And… fire!"

Tiny drills shot out of the rocket, burrowing their way into the glowing green asteroid in front of us.

"Detonation in three… two… one!" Danny Fenton's voice cried from over the speakers, and then a flash of blinding red light engulfed us. We hid our faces in our sleeves.

Finally, the light dimmed, and we heard cheers from the speakers. We looked up and saw the asteroid was gone.

_We did it! We'd destroyed the Disasteroid! We're free_!

I high-fived Download, grinning broadly, cheering along with the rest of our team.

"I knew we could do it!" Jack Fenton cried. "There isn't a rock anywhere that could outsmart Jack Fenton!"

Suddenly, Mr. Fenton gasped, and we all looked up to see us passing another glowing green rock. A bigger rock.

"_That's _the Disasteroid," Derek realized. "You had us blow up the wrong one— you idiot!"

"But I… I couldn't have!" Mr. Fenton said. "Vladdie punched in the asteroid's coordinates for me!"

We were all blinded by fury, I think. I don't know how else to explain our actions. We were so certain that we'd done it, that we had our freedom, that our lives were safe… and then, once again, we were in danger.

Derek and I threw ourselves at Mr. Fenton.

Luckily, Theo was level-headed as ever. A moment later, we were pulled away from the older man, struggling as Theo held us both around our waists.

"It's not his fault, guys!" Theo said, his arms locked around our waists, rendering us immobile. "Mr. Fenton, did you say Vlad punched in the coordinates for you?"

"Yeah," Mr. Fenton said from the ground. I glanced at the man, suddenly guilty as I saw the black eye that was appearing on the older man's face. "He put them in before we left."

"Oh," I said softly, ducking my head down. Guilty.

Because Vlad had never planned to give us our freedom. He'd sabotaged this mission on purpose. Just to piss us off, and to ruin Jack Fenton's credibility.

Theo let us go, and I walked over to where Mr. Fenton lay, holding out my hand to him. He took my arm and I pulled him up.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fenton," I apologized. Derek nodded from behind me in agreement.

"It's fine," Mr. Fenton sighed. "I get it. That was our last hope… and we blew it."

"Let's just get back to Earth," Derek said. We turned the ship around, heading back to our home planet.

Jack went to use the bathroom. It was only then that we heard the voices.

The speakers that were used to communicate with our team back in Amity Park hadn't been turned off… Vlad either didn't realize this, or he didn't care.

I waved my hand at Theo and Derek, motioning them to be quiet. Eventually, they got the message and quieted, listening with me.

_"…at least he tried, Vlad! What have you done except send other to do your dirty work?" _Danny Fenton cried.

_ "And where are _you_, Danny Phantom?" _Vlad responded. _"Looks like my plan to shame you into hiding was even more effective than I could've hoped!"_

I glanced over at Theo and Derek.

"We were right," I said simply.

Another voice buzzed over the speakers and we were silenced again. This was the voice of the news anchor that we'd been listening to for the past few days.

_"I'm just getting word that scientists now know that the Disasteroid originated from the rings of Saturn two weeks ago!" _the news lady said.

_"Saturn?" _Danny Fenton's voice said. _"Your satellite exploded! That's what moved the asteroid! You're the one that caused this catastrophe!"_

All three of us gasped. Plasmius was responsible for the Disasteroid?

We quieted once more when we heard Danny Fenton cry out over the speakers. I hoped that Vlad wasn't hurting him.

_"Defeating you was just the first act of my little show," _Vlad said. _"Get ready for act two!"_

We heard Danny Fenton's scream, followed by a loud crash and an evil laugh.

"No, no, no… is he all right?" I murmured, my hands tangled in my hair as I closed my eyes and prayed for Danny Fenton…

But then I heard an anguished moan, and I knew he was alive, if not a little banged up.

Derek, Theo, and I all sighed in relief.

Danny was okay. Good. But what the _hell_ was Vlad planning?

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_Hi everybody!_

_Please, if you're reading this, leave me a review. I know that there are people out there who have this fic on story alert or favorites who haven't been reviewing. __**You know who you are!**__ Please just take a second to type something out for me. I'll love you forever for it!_

_-Emmyrad_

_P.S. - Thank you so much for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

Vlad came to retrieve us the next morning after the failed mission. We were all still furious with him, but we knew our anger was pointless. The world was going to end. What was the point of holding grudges?

"I'm hoping you three will come with me to the press conference I'm holding today," Vlad said when he appeared in our suite.

"Do we have a choice?" Derek snapped bitterly.

"No, I'm afraid not," Vlad said, chuckling. "You _are _coming with me."

"What are you going to say?" I asked, curious as to why he was holding the conference.

"Oh, you'll see," Vlad said, chuckling. "Let's just say that I have news that will impact the _entire world_."

I glanced over at Derek, who mouthed "act two." I nodded subtly in his direction— I got the point. This was part of Vlad's plan. But what _was_ his plan, exactly?

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

An hour later, we found ourselves standing outside city hall behind Vlad Masters. Below us, a large audience had congregated to hear Vlad talk. Vlad insisted we stand up there with him, and we knew better than to protest.

The audience before us not only included citizens of Amity Park, but also important rulers from every corner of the Earth. Vlad's speech was also being televised worldwide.

Whatever Vlad had to say, it was big.

"Citizens of the Earth!" Vlad finally announced. "I have news that will impact the _entire_ world! Though every attempt at destroying the Disasteroid has failed, I come to you today offering an _alternative_ solution. One I think you will find mostsurprising!"

With that, Vlad leapt up onto the podium. Before you could say _Ectoplasmic Entity_, Vlad had jumping out above the audience and changed into Vlad Plasmius. Masters/Plasmius laughed evilly.

Without hesitation, Theo, Derek and I pointed our guns at him. Maybe now that the world knew he was evil, we could finally kill him…

But no, Vlad saw us. Cloning himself into three, he shot us each with pink ecto-energy.

We cried out in pain as the energy hit us, feeling like a hard punch to the stomach. All three of us were thrown backwards. The wind was knocked out of me, and I desperately gasped for air.

"Violet! Are you okay?" Derek asked, crawling over to me, grasping my hand with both of his.

Finally, I managed to suck in some air, and I felt color return to my face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said weakly. I ached everywhere.

Vlad was still talking. Nobody was paying any mind to the three kids who'd just been shot with ectoplasmic energy onstage.

"Violet, Derek, come on!" Theo said, scrambling over to us and grabbing my arm.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Away from here," Theo said, quickly pressing a button on his watch.

All was cold and white, and then we were elsewhere, away from the havoc at city hall. Theo had teleported us away with his watch.

Once again, we were steps away from the Fenton household.

"Take off your watches," Theo said.

"Wha-?" I asked.

"Tracking devices," Theo explained. "Take them off!"

Derek and I hurriedly unlatched our watches, tossing them into a pile below us. Theo stepped forward and used the heel of his boot to crush the devices.

Collectively, we breathed a sigh of relief. Vlad couldn't track us anymore. We were free.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go into Fenton Works."

We found the front door unlocked, and we walked up the stairs to the second story of the Fenton household.

"We're not going to stay here, are we?" Derek asked as we walked. "I mean, the Fentons _live_ here. How are we going to hide? And Vlad has cameras trained on this place."

"I don't know," I admitted. "But we're actually probably safest here. I mean, this is the home of the famous ghost-hunters Jack and Madeleine Fenton. I sincerely doubt Vlad's going to bother to come _here_ to retrieve us."

"I think Violet's right," Theo said. "Besides, Vlad probably doesn't care too much about us anymore. I mean, he's revealed his secret to the world now. There's no chance of us ratting him out… so why should he inconvenience himself to recapture us?"

"Right," I said. "But… we _will_ need a place to hide from the Fentons."

"How about up here?" Derek said.

We turned to see him standing in front of a rope ladder that was hanging down from the ceiling.

"I wonder where that leads," I said. "The attic, maybe?"

Derek shrugged.

We made our way up the ladder, pulling it in behind us and closing the hatch before turning around to survey our surroundings.

"Uh… this isn't an attic," I said.

We were in what appeared to be another high-tech lab... similar to the one downstairs, but a little larger and with less stuff. Huge windows looked down onto the sidewalk.

"We must be in that UFO-thing the Fentons have on their roof," Theo said. "An op center of sorts."

Suddenly, I noticed a small TV in the corner of the room.

"Oh, there's a TV in here!" I said. "Let's see what happened after we left."

We turned it on, readying ourselves for anything.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

We watched the news for fifteen minutes, putting pieces together to figure out what had happened.

Apparently, Vlad had offered to turn to Disasteroid intangible if he was declared "ruler of the earth" and paid an extravagant amount of money.

Leaders of different nations were being interviewed, and each one seemed to agree that although the situation was not ideal, declaring Vlad ruler of the planet was necessary if we wanted to save the human race.

It looked like Vlad's plan was working.

We had to the TV off when we heard the Fenton RV pull up to the house. We instantly quieted.

"…Vlad, a ghost! I can't believe it!" Jack Fenton's voice boomed from downstairs as the door opened.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" Danny Fenton responded, laughing nervously.

_That boy is a terrible liar,_ I thought, snickering.

"What a jerk, though!" Jazz Fenton cried. "I can't believe he wants to be declared 'absolute ruler' of the Earth— and I can't believe everybody's agreeing to it!"

"I know it's bad, sweetie," Mrs. Fenton said. "But the human race— and all other species on our planet— are faced with extinction if we don't let him do this for us."

"I know," Jazz said, sighing. "I'm just worried."

"That makes two of us," Mrs. Fenton replied.

There was silence for a few minutes.

"I'm going up with Vlad," Jack Fenton suddenly announced. "Into space, I mean. He told me he wants me to pilot the rocket to bring him up there. We're going tonight."

A brief period of silence followed before the house erupted in noise.

"_What_?" Danny Fenton cried.

"Jack, he's evil!" Maddie Fenton seconded.

"It's dangerous, Dad!" Jazz exclaimed.

"Come on," Jack said. "Vlad wouldn't kill me! He's my pal. I know he's changed, but… we used to be best friends!"

"Just… be careful, Jack," Maddie Fenton said, sighing, and then there was silence downstairs once more.

Theo, Derek, and I exchanged looks.

Was this really going to happen? Was Vlad going to become the ruler of the world?

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_Eeeeee! I got like, five new reviews! IT'S A NEW RECORD._

_ Thanks to everybody for reading and reviewing! I decided to post this chapter tonight, but another new chapter should be up tomorrow like usual._

_ -Emmyrad_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: **_

_I uploaded __**two **__new chapters yesterday— make sure you've read __**both**__ of those before reading this one, or you'll be __**extremely **__confused._

_Okay? Okay._

**Dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

I was up late that night.

Theo and Derek had fallen asleep already; how, I'm not too sure— the cold floors in the Op Center were anything but comfortable.

I stood up quietly, stretching, before climbing down the rope ladder and making my way downstairs.

Jack and Maddie Fenton were gone— tonight was the night Jack was flying Vlad up to the Disasteroid in his rocket. While Jack and Vlad were in space, Maddie was waiting at the launch site for the both of them to return.

I heard voices in the basement— Jazz, Tucker, Sam and Danny were obviously watching the rocket's process from the lab.

I tiptoed through the Fenton household, trying not to alert the teens downstairs in the lab to my presence.

I knew it wasn't smart of me to be out of the Op Center— I could easily be caught. But my sensibilities regarding personal safety had been somewhat numbed over the past few weeks. I wandered down into the kitchen, toward the door of the lab.

I was walking across the cold tiles of the kitchen floor, when all of a sudden, I slipped on something. Crying out, I fell to the floor, landing loudly.

I could only lie there for a second, paralyzed by fear.

_They heard me, they'll be up here any second…_

But nobody came up, and after a few minutes, I finally moved again, examining what I'd slipped on. A napkin. Once of those cheap ones you got at the Nasty Burger that feels more like paper than it does cloth.

Reaching up, I used the counter above me to pull myself to my feet. My hand landed on an object on the counter— a Sharpie pen. After heaving myself to my feet, I took the Sharpie in hand.

That's when I heard the voices downstairs.

"Vlad can't touch the asteroid!" Tucker cried. "It's made of ectoranium!"

"Ectoranium? What's that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but we're doomed!" Tucker cried.

My heart fell as I overheard the news.

Suddenly, Sam spoke again.

"Danny— where are you going?" she asked.

"I'll be back," Danny's voice said. "I just… need to think."

I heard steps coming up the stairs, and, Sharpie and napkin still in hand, I darted out of the kitchen. Danny appeared from the basement only seconds after I'd fled out of sight. I peered into the room, watching as Danny ran his hand through his multicolored hair, looking depressed.

Suddenly, I realized what I had to do.

Taking the Sharpie in hand, I wrote on the napkin in my hand, scribbling down the idea that had been stemming in my mind since I'd heard about Vlad trying to make the asteroidintangible.

_**Make the Earth intangible**_, I wrote with a shaky hand.

I didn't even know if it could be done. I'd figured Vlad knew what he was doing when he decided to make the asteroid intangible… it was a much smaller object. But obviously, that hadn't worked out.

But Danny— maybe he could gather enough ghosts to, instead of the offending asteroid, make the Earth _itself_ intangible… I wondered Danny had enough connections in the Ghost Zone to pull it off.

_Well, only one way to find out, _I thought.

I crumpled up the napkin in my hand and threw it at Danny's head.

"Ack!" Danny cried as the napkin hit him.

And then Danny was bending down, picking it up, unfolding it. Reading its message.

"Make the Earth intangible…" Danny murmured. "Make the _Earth _intangible!"

A smile suddenly flew on to Danny's face.

"Wait a minute… who threw this?" Danny asked. "Show yourself!"

I momentarily wondered whether I should reveal myself to the boy, but decided against it. He probably was still mad with Masters' Blasters. After all, we _were_ the ones who'd shamed him into removing his ghost powers.

Danny glanced around the kitchen once more, tensed and poised for battle, before relaxing and glancing back at the napkin.

"Well, thanks, whoever you are," Danny said before pocketing the napkin retreating back into the lab.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

Danny wondered who'd thrown the napkin, but he figured that whoever it was obviously didn't want their identity revealed. Danny knew a thing or two about secrets. He could respect this.

Besides, if he was going to put this idea into action, he was going to have to start as soon as possible.

"What if we didn't make the _asteroid _intangible?" Danny asked when he reached the bottom of the stairs back into his parent's lab.

"Then it would obliterate the Earth," Tucker said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if we made the _Earth _intangible!" Danny said, smiling. Once more mentally thanking whoever had given him the idea.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

The next day, we turned on the TV and were surprised to see Danny Phantom was back, speaking at City Hall.

"How'd he get his powers back?" Derek wondered.

"I don't know… but that's definitely Danny Fenton," I said. "See? There's Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, standing off to the side."

_"Uh, hello there,"_ Danny greeted from the podium. _"I have a plan that could save us all from the asteroid. And this one is absolutely free. How great is that?"_

_"If ghosts can't touch the asteroid, then how are you going to stop it?"_ A voice called from the audience.

_"Because we're not going to turn the asteroid intangible,"_ Danny said. _"We're going to turn the _Earth_ intangible!"_

Gasps sounded from the audience and from beside me as Derek and Theo heard the plan.

But I just smiled.

Tucker came up to the podium, talking through the technical stuff regarding the mission. Derek and Theo's eyes were wide, and even I was surprised at how much thought the techno-geek had put into refining my idea.

_"That's the plan,_" Danny said after Tucker was done talking. "_Who's with us?_"

To my surprise, Maddie and Jack Fenton were the first to start clapping. I'd always thought they'd be the last to accept Phantom's plan, simply out of hatred for the infamous Ghost Boy.

A bit more isolated clapping sounded from the audience.

Soon, applause erupted from the TV screen as Phantom's plan was universally accepted.

"You go, Ghost Boy," I murmured, grinning broadly.

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_Two more chapters to go! See you tomorrow!_

_-Emmyrad_


	13. Chapter 13

Almost immediately, the plan was put into action.

The transfer cables were spread across the Earth. From out of the Op Center window, we could see them draped all across Amity Park.

The Fentons left for Antarctica to help with the mission, so we had their house to ourselves. We changed out of our Masters' Blasters uniforms, borrowing some of the Fenton's clothes. Jazz Fenton and I were the same size, as were Danny Fenton and Derek. Theo borrowed some clothes from Jack Fenton, even though they were a little baggy on him.

The day that the asteroid was scheduled to hit, we left the house.

We made our way down to the City Hall, where a huge screen was set up, televising the events proceeding in Antarctica. A huge crowd had formed there.

We took a seat on the sidewalk, watching Danny Phantom lead the efforts to save our world.

"This is amazing," I mused. "This is really amazing."

"He's a hero," Theo agreed.

Then the video cut out and we all just had to cross our fingers and hope for the best. People joined hands and sang folk songs. The sky darkened as the asteroid drew closer.

All we could do was wait.

Theo stood up, saying he needed to stretch, throwing some odd look Derek's way before wandering off.

"Look, Violet," Derek said. I turned to my friend to see his face red, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "If this doesn't work… if they aren't quick enough… if Danny can't get all those ghosts to help him…"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Well, there's something I've got to do," Derek said.

And then Derek leaned forward and kissed me on the lips.

My best friend, my just-friend, my Derek was kissing me.

I closed my eyes, pulling him closer, wanting the kiss never to end.

But then, behind my closed eyelids, I saw the sky darkening as the asteroid approached. Reluctantly, I broke apart from Derek, glancing toward the horizon.

The Disasteroid was approaching, impossibly close. Babies were crying, ladies were screaming.

Beside me, Derek took my hand.

"It'll be okay," he said.

"I know," I said.

Closing my eyes, I leaned in and kissed him, unable to watch as the asteroid collided with our planet, shattering it into bits…

But when I pulled away from the kiss, my eyes opening again, I saw the impossible.

Intangible. We were all intangible. I glanced at my hand— it was see-through, a blue wireframe shell marking where the appendage should be.

I turned to Derek, who was grinning.

"He did it," Derek said softly, his translucent lips curved into a smile.

We both glanced downward, watching as the asteroid passed through the core of the Earth far below us.

A second later, weight and color returned to our bodies as we turned tangible once more.

The city erupted in cheers, and Derek and I gladly joined in. I leaned over and hugged Derek tightly, so relieved we weren't dead, so glad that we could be together in a world that was safe once more.

Suddenly, I saw Theo out of the corner of my eye. Where had my brother disappeared to all this time?

"Look who I found," Theo said as he approached us. A teen girl appeared seemingly out of nowhere from behind him, and it took me a half-second to register who I was looking at.

"Catherine!" I cried as I rushed forward to embrace my older brother's girlfriend.

"Violet!" She cried as she held me. "I thought you were dead! I thought all of you were dead!"

Catherine stepped back from me. She looked like hell, her blue eyes red from crying, her clothes wrinkled and stained, her brown hair tangled and held up in a messy bun. I wondered what these past few weeks must have been like for her, thinking her boyfriend of over two years was dead. She must have had it rough.

"I'm sorry, Catherine," I said. "But it's a really long story. A really long story I'd rather not get into yet."

"I get it," Catherine said, smiling through her tears. "This is a happy occasion. The Earth is saved. Let's celebrate."

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

The world didn't just celebrate Danny Phantom today, but Danny Fenton as well. As soon as the cameras came back on, Danny revealed his secret. But it wasn't a secret any more.

The Fentons were on their way back home, and Amity Park planned on throwing them a parade when they came back into the city.

"Nice to see Danny's finally getting the credit he deserves," Theo noted.

We were wandering through the streets of Amity Park. Catherine had to go home with her family, but she made us all promise to visit her as soon as possible. Right now, Theo, Derek and I just wanted to be together.

Derek and I held hands as we walked, and I looked around, smiling as I saw children playing tag in the streets, old friends chatting on the sidewalks, couples kissing, people singing cheerful songs. Today, the world was unified, thanks to Danny Phantom.

"Wait— our jumpsuits!" I suddenly cried as I realized our error. "We left them at Fenton Works!"

All three of us exchanged a look before setting off in a sprint toward Fenton Works.

We ran through the streets until we arrived at the Fenton's house, bursting through the door and bustling up the stairs to gather the garments we'd stupidly laid strewn about.

We'd grabbed our gear and we were downstairs in the entryway when the front door burst open.

I gasped as Danny Fenton opened the door. His blue eyes widened in recognition as he stumbled backward in shock.

We were _so_ busted.

"Wait… you're Violet and Theo Marshall! And Derek Gains! But— you're all supposed to be dead!" Danny cried as he saw us. "Wait… are you?"

"We aren't ghosts, if that's what you're asking," Theo stated, snickering.

Suddenly, Danny's blue eyes drifted downward, and he noticed the red jumpsuits we held in our arms. I hugged mine closer almost instinctively, as if in doing so I could hide the ghost-huntress I used to be…

"Aren't those the Masters' Blasters uniforms?" Danny asked in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Look… it's a _really_ long story," I said, sighing. "But… I guess I'll start from the beginning."

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

_One more chapter to go! See you then!_

_-Emmyrad_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Previously:**_

"_Aren't those the Masters' Blasters uniforms?" Danny asked in confusion. "What's going on?"_

"_Look… it's a really long story," I said, sighing. "But… I guess I'll start from the beginning."_

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

During my story, the rest of the Fenton family, along with Sam and Tucker, had come in to listen, and now we were all seated in the Fenton's living room as I told our tale.

"We managed to escape after Vlad revealed he was half-ghost," I said. "And… we've kind of been hiding out in your Op Center ever since."

"You've been living in our house this whole time?" Jazz asked, shocked.

"Yeah… sorry about that," I said meekly.

Danny Fenton had been quiet up to this point, but suddenly he looked up at me with interest.

"The napkin?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

"Yeah… that was me," I admitted.

"Wait, what napkin?" Derek asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I second that question," Tucker said.

Danny sighed, pulling out the infamous napkin from his pocket. He passed it around to everybody, who glanced at what it said.

_**Make the Earth intangible.**_

"You didn't think I got the idea to turn the Earth intangible all by myself, did you?" Danny said, smiling goofily at his family before turning back to face me. "So… _you_ wrote this note?"

I nodded.

"It was a stupid, reckless thing for me to do," I said. "I could've easily given away our hiding place."

"But your idea saved the world," Danny countered.

"True," I said, smiling.

Maddie Fenton then glanced our way, concerned.

"But… your families are dead?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Well, I still have Theo. But… yeah…" I said, trailing off. Not really sure if there was anything else to be said.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" Jazz asked.

Derek and Theo relayed their plans to the Fentons; Theo would be staying with his girlfriend until he could get his own apartment, and Derek had an aunt who lived in town.

The Fentons' eyes fell on me, waiting to hear where I was to live… but I just shook my head. Honestly, I didn't really have anywhere to stay yet. I could stay with Theo at Catherine's… but she only had one guest room… and her family struggled to make ends meet as it was… they didn't have enough money to support me _and _Theo…

"If you need a place to stay, Violet, you always have a home here," Maddie said, her tone indicating that she was serious.

"Thanks," I said, smiling. "I think I might take you up on that offer."

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

The legal stuff we had to go through was an utter nightmare, of course. After all, the government had thought we were all dead. But eventually things were squared away again, and the Fentons gained custody of me.

Since Theo was a legal adult, after a week or so of living with Catherine he managed to get a job at a local bookstore and find an apartment of his own.

Derek planned to stay with his aunt until he finished up at Casper High.

And me? I was totally happy to stay with the Fentons. Sure, they weren't my family, but I was growing to love them all. I hated being a burden on them, but Jack and Maddie seemed totally ecstatic to have me around, especially considering my interest in ghosts. Jack often would spend hours blathering on about ghosts to me. Not that I minded.

Danny had gained worldwide fame and recognition, and he couldn't go outside without being recognized.

"Are you going to keep going to Casper High?" I asked Danny a few days after the Disasteroid incident.

"Of course," he said, a little taken aback by my question. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you're the world's savior. A superhero. A super-famous one, at that," I said. "I'd at least figured you'd be sent off to some fancy prep school somewhere, if not going for home-schooling or dropping out all together."

Danny rolled his eyes.

"I'm not the 'world's savior,' Violet," Danny said. "I'm just plain-old Danny Fenton."

"You're in denial," I said teasingly.

"Probably," Danny responded, laughing.

**dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

Derek and I walked through the park, hand and hand. Winter was fading into spring, and today had been the first really warm day since what seemed like forever.

"So… I guess we start back at Casper High in a few days," Derek noted as we walked.

"Yeah," I said, sighing. "Man, that's going to be _weird_."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"I mean… things are so different now," I said, sighing. "Danny Fenton's a superhero, our families are dead, and…"

"…we're dating?" Derek provided, an amused smile on his face.

I blushed.

"Yeah. That, too," I said.

"I don't think it'll be too different," Derek said. "We'll still be hanging out together, same as ever… even if we _are _dating now. And as for Danny being a superhero… well, Dash will find another punching bag."

I laughed.

"Yeah. He will," I agreed.

Derek and I continued walking, watching kids ride bikes and eat ice cream.

"It's so beautiful out today," I said, smiling goofily as I inhaled the scent of flowers, of spring…

"Not as beautiful as you," Derek responded, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, snorting.

"Cheesiest line _ever_," I said.

"Hey, it's true!" Derek said, laughing, kissing my forehead.

"You're so ridiculous," I said, but I was smiling and blushing.

"Hey, how about we stop at the Nasty Burger?" Derek offered, pointing at the restaurant that we could just barely see, a spot on the horizon ahead of us. "My treat."

I suddenly smiled, raising my eyebrow conspiratorially at Derek.

"Race you there?" I challenged.

"You're on!" Derek said.

And then we were sprinting through the park, laughing like maniacs as we ran toward the restaurant.

**Dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdp**

_So, there you have it— our side of the story._

_I may not be a writer or a literary buff like my brother Theo, but I think I got my point across._

_Point is: Masters' Blasters are dead and gone for good._

_Violet, Derek, and Theo, however, are here to stay._

_Sincerely,_

_**Violet Harding**_


End file.
